Pelicans Rumors

Southwest Notes: Morey, Williams, McGee, Gentry

November 23rd, 2015 at 3:31pm CST by Chuck Myron

It’s up to the players to pull the Rockets out of the malaise that cost former coach Kevin McHale his job, according to GM Daryl Morey, but Morey acknowledges to TNT’s David Aldridge that some of the fault lies at his own desk, as Aldridge relays in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com.

“Except for Dwight Howard, there really isn’t anybody on the roster playing well, and those are all my decisions,” Morey said. “I can’t hide from that.”

The Rockets won their first game after switching from McHale to interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff but lost both of their games since, and they’re tied with the Kings at 5-9 for 12th place in the Western Conference. See more from the Southwest Division:

Chandler Parsons doesn’t understand why Deron Williams has a reputation as a negative locker room force, citing evidence of the opposite to Jake Fischer of SI.com. Wesley Matthews observes a positive attitude from Williams in the face of challenges, like the erosion of his game, a change Williams acknowledges, as Fischer adds. “My days of scoring 20 and 10 are over. I know that,” said Williams, who gave up nearly $16MM to buy his way off the Nets before signing with the Mavericks for $11MM over two years.
The return of JaVale McGee puts the squeeze on the minutes of early-season revelation Dwight Powell, notes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. The Mavs have until January 7th to decide whether to pay McGee his full salary of $1.27MM or waive him and pay only his $750K partial guarantee.
Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry was satisfied as the lead assistant for the Warriors last season and didn’t think he’d end up with another head coaching job until New Orleans came calling, observes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. “I was not going to take a job just to have a job as a head coach unless it was a situation that I thought was going to give you an opportunity to win and win big and compete for a championship,” Gentry said. “I really didn’t have any desire just to take another NBA job.”

Northwest Notes: Durant, Westbrook, Burks, Towns

November 20th, 2015 at 1:14pm CST by Chuck Myron

Kevin Durant describes his friendship with Russell Westbrook as “really tight,” and it came into focus Thursday, when Durant chose Westbrook to present him for induction into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, as The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater details. The bond between the Thunder teammates looms large, with Durant poised to hit free agency this summer and Westbrook to follow in 2017.

“There’s times where we go at it,” Durant said about Westbrook in a Q&A with Slater. “There’s times I don’t like what he’s doing out on the court, there’s times where he hates what I’m doing out on the court. There’s times where it’s Russ, you gotta control your attitude or KD, you gotta stop, you gotta speak up, whatever. There’s times we cuss each other out, but that’s a part of being brothers. Because I know if I need something, he’ll be there and if I need to talk to someone outside of basketball, he’ll be there. It’s a real brotherhood type relationship. We’re like family.”

Durant also makes note of the continued relationship that he and Westbrook have with former Thunder center Kendrick Perkins, who’s on a one-year deal with the Pelicans, as Slater relays.

Alec Burks is playing at a more controlled pace and making better on-court judgments, Jazz coach Quin Snyder said, and that’s helped him come back better from the shoulder injury that prematurely ended last season than he was before it, as Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune examines. Much of his improvement is in the details, the coach also asserts, according to Falk. “There are a lot of little things, habits that are hard. Literally, which foot do you want forward? … All those things that maybe you don’t see add up,” Snyder said.
Jazz draft-and-stash signee Raul Neto isn’t quite seeing starter’s minutes, but he’s in the starting lineup and impressing Snyder, as Falk details in a separate piece. “I think he’s handled it great,” Snyder said. “If you look at a lot of international players, and particularly the guards, there’s an adjustment period. I think he’s way ahead of that.”
The Timberwolves have a long way to go, and the front office surely knows it, but the defensive play of their starting lineup has been top-notch and No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns is showing offensive versatility with his shooting and post-up game, observes Evans Clinchy of Hardwood Paroxysm.

Pelicans Waive Jimmer Fredette

November 19th, 2015 at 2:33pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Pelicans have waived Jimmer Fredette, the team announced. The team signed the former BYU star to a non-guaranteed contract November 10th using a 16th roster spot the league granted them via the hardship rule. That provision for an extra player lasts only 10 days, and though the Pelicans are still dealing with copious injuries, Fredette’s release is a signal that the league won’t be giving the team another 10-day exception, likely because one of the injured players is poised to return, as John Reid of The Times Picayune speculates (on Twitter).

Letting go of Fredette is also a financial savings for the Pels, who only used him for a total of 13 minutes spread over four games this month. His prorated minimum salary cost them $5,572 a day. Fredette is also collecting money this season from the Spurs, who guaranteed him $507,711 before cutting him at the end of the preseason. He remains under contract with the D-League affiliate of the Knicks, who drafted him after he inked a D-League deal late last month.

Omer Asik and Anthony Davis are questionable for Friday’s game against the Spurs, but four others have been out with long-term injuries, which gave New Orleans enough to qualify for the extra roster spot. Kendrick Perkins is just a couple of weeks into a three-month recovery timetable and Tyreke Evans still appears to be about two weeks away, judging by the timeframe that Reid reported a month ago, so Norris Cole and Quincy Pondexter, who’ve yet to play this season, look like the candidates to return soon.

What do you think comes next for Fredette? Leave a comment to let us know.

And-Ones: Rockets, Chalmers, Kilpatrick

November 17th, 2015 at 10:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Rockets, who are in the midst of a four-game losing streak, held a players-only meeting to clear the air and work on their communication, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com relays. “What happens in the room, stays in the room,” center Dwight Howard said. “It was good for us to sit down and talk, but it’s a long season and you can’t get caught up in losing a couple of games and getting upset and so frustrated and feel like it’s the end of the world. It is embarrassing. We hate to lose but at the same time we have a long season and we can’t think negative when we lose. We have to try and find the positive in any situation. You keep thinking negative, then negative things will continue to happen to you. You got to stay positive and fight through it. All this stuff will build our character.”

Star shooting guard James Harden also agreed that the meeting was a productive one for the team, Watkins adds. “It was a good talk for us,” Harden said. “We hadn’t had an opportunity to communicate like that since the season had been going. It was good for us to communicate and each guy basically said what their role was and every single night they’re going to contribute to that role. After the talk we had a really good practice, guys communicated, we worked hard and now it’s about carrying it over. It’s about doing it on the floor.”

Here’s more from around the league:

Mario Chalmers has been lighting up stat sheets since the Grizzlies acquired him from the Heat, and the point guard credits his new teammates having confidence in him for his recent output, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel writes. “I just try to bring as much energy to the game as possible,” Chalmers said. “It means a lot when your coach and your teammates have confidence and they want you to shoot.” The veteran guard also sees a number of similarities between how Memphis plays defense and shares the ball on offense with the championship squads he played for in Miami, Winderman adds.
The Delaware 87ers, the Sixers‘ D-League affiliate, have re-acquired Sean Kilpatrick as a returning player, the team announced. Kilpatrick, who was in training camp with the Pelicans, was a member of the 87ers at the end of the 2014/15 season.

Southwest Notes: McHale, Lawson, Chalmers

November 17th, 2015 at 11:00am CST by Chuck Myron

Kevin McHale is displeased with his team’s effort and defense amid a 4-7 start, and he admits he’s thinking of moving marquee trade acquisition Ty Lawson to the bench, observes Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com, though Patrick Beverley hurt his ankle over the weekend. Sources close to the team tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders that they wonder whether the players aren’t listening to McHale or if the roster is simply composed of ill-fitting parts. GM Daryl Morey refused comment when ESPN’s Marc Stein asked about the team’s struggles, Watkins relays. See more from around the Southwest Division, where Houston isn’t the only team with a problem:

A desire to prove his worth to the Heat, who traded him away last week, appears to be fueling the strong play of Mario Chalmers, opines Ethan Skolnick of the Miami Herald. The Thunder’s issues with their perimeter defense played a role, but Chalmers, with 29 points in 23 minutes, looked like the best Grizzlies point guard in Monday’s win over Oklahoma City, The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater observes. “He doesn’t even know the plays yet,” Marc Gasol said. “Imagine when he knows the plays.”
Dwight Powell, set for restricted free agency at season’s end, has looked strong so far this year, but he still has to prove his value to the Mavs, as Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News contends in a chat with readers. I touched on Powell and more when I looked back on the Mavs’ offseason earlier today.
Paul Flannery and Tom Ziller of SB Nation debate the surprising troubles for the Rockets, Pelicans and Grizzlies, with Flannery opining that the Lawson acquisition has been a “debacle” so far for Houston but that New Orleans is in the most perilous position of the three teams.

Western Notes: Waiters, Henderson, Pelicans

November 15th, 2015 at 12:53pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Dion Waiters is denying the report that he wants to play for his hometown Sixers, Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman passes along.

“[Don’t] Believe everything y’all hear lol I guess this what the world coming to [shaking my head], especially if it didn’t come from me,” Waiters tweeted. “I [don’t] need or want the attention I never been that guy…I’m not worrying about money I’m chasing a championship with my bros…#ThunderUP.”

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

Gerald Henderson is building chemistry with the Blazers and his team is embracing the veteran’s presence, Mike Richman of the Oregonian writes. “We understand his game. He likes to get those couple dribble pull ups, slight fade like Kobe,” teammate C.J. McCollum said. “So he’s going to be able to get those shots all day long, especially if he’s in the game with Dame or I because the amount of attention we’re going to get offensively. It’s going to open things up for him and he’s going to help us, make the game easier for us.” Henderson came to Portland in the Nicolas Batum trade this summer.
The Pelicans don’t have much talent around Anthony Davis and one reason for that was the lack of return in the Chris Paul trade, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News opines (Twitter links). New Orleans netted Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al Farouq and Austin Rivers in that trade and only Gordon remains on the team. Although the original CP3 trade that was vetoed by former commissioner David Stern wasn’t much better, the Pelicans would have least added Goran Dragic, Bondy adds.

Southwest Notes: Nowitzki, Smith, Lawson

November 14th, 2015 at 2:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki hasn’t made up his mind about when he’ll retire from the game, but he isn’t shutting the door on the possibility that he may play beyond 2016/17, which is the final year on his current deal, Sam Amick of USA Today writes. “I always said that when the body is hurting every day, and when you’ve got to do all this extra stuff to just play, I think that’s when it’s time to go,” said Nowitzki. “But I feel good. I feel good right now and I felt good this summer. I mean, we had a five-games-in-six-days for the [Eurobasket], and I got through that just fine. … I felt good. I don’t need to pop a thousand pills to play or practice. So as long as that’s still good, and it’s still fun to go. I’m going to definitely ride this contract out [this season and next]. I don’t know. We’ll see what happens after that.”

Here’s more from out of the Southwest Division:

Ish Smith, who was claimed off waivers from the Wizards back in October, has been forced to play major minutes because of injuries to Norris Cole and Tyreke Evans, and he has impressed the Pelicans‘ coaching staff with how quickly he has acclimated to the team’s system, writes John Reid of The Times Picayune. ”It’s really tough, especially just coming in,” coach Alvin Gentry said. ”It would have been different if he had been in training camp and had gone through the whole situation. But you just pick a guy up and then throw him out there, I thought he responded great. I just think it’s a situation and [GM] Dell [Demps] and I talked about it and we just got to keep our head above water. We just got to keep playing hard and competing.”
Ty Lawson made his return to Denver Friday night, which was his first game back in the city after being dealt to the Rockets during the offseason. While his tenure with the Nuggets didn’t necessarily end well, the point guard had nothing negative to say about his former team, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post writes. “It was pretty great,” said Lawson of his time with the Nuggets. “I had a good couple of years here. This team gave me my first opportunity and chance. So I have nothing bad to say.” When asked if he wished things had turned out differently for him in Denver, Lawson responded, “Things happen for a reason. God has a plan, so I’m going to follow it.”
Mavericks point guard Raymond Felton has signed with agent Jim Tanner of Tandem Sports and Entertainment, reports Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports (Twitter link). Felton was previously represented by Wasserman Media Group.

Offseason In Review: New Orleans Pelicans

November 13th, 2015 at 12:44pm CST by Chuck Myron

Hoops Rumors is in the process of looking back at each team’s offseason, from the end of the playoffs in June right up until opening night. Trades, free agent signings, draft picks, contract extensions, option decisions, camp invitees and more will be covered as we examine the moves each franchise made over the last several months.

Signings

Alexis Ajinca: Four years, $19.5MM. Signed via Early Bird rights.
Omer Asik: Five years, $52.978MM. Signed via Bird rights.
Luke Babbitt: Two years, $2.328MM. Signed via minimum salary exception. Second year is partially guaranteed for $200K.
Norris Cole: One year, $3.037MM. Signed qualifying offer.
Dante Cunningham: Three years, $8.935MM. Signed via mid-level exception. Third year is a player option.
Bryce Dejean-Jones: Three years, $2.414MM. Signed via mid-level exception. First year is partially guaranteed for $50K. Subsequently waived.
Chris Douglas-Roberts: Two years, $2.501MM. Signed via minimum salary exception. Subsequently waived.
Alonzo Gee: Two years, $2.699MM. Signed via mid-level exception. Second year is a player option.
Kendrick Perkins: One year, $1.499MM. Signed via minimum salary exception.
Nate Robinson: One year, $1.499MM. Signed via minimum salary exception. Non-guaranteed. Subsequently waived.

Extensions

Anthony Davis: Five years, approximately $145MM.

Trades

Acquired $630K from the Clippers in exchange for the rights to Branden Dawson, the No. 56 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.

Waiver Claims

Ish Smith: Claimed from the Wizards. One year, $1.101MM remaining. Contract is non-guaranteed.

Draft Picks

Branden Dawson (Round 2, 56th overall). Draft rights traded to the Clippers.

Camp Invitees

Jeff Adrien — Waived.
Mirza Begić — Waived.
Sean Kilpatrick — Waived.
Jerome Jordan — Waived.
Bo McCalebb — Waived.
Corey Webster — Waived.

Departing Players

Rookie Contract Option Decisions

None

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

The Pelicans roster was a jumble to start the season, though it’s difficult to pin blame on executive VP of basketball operations Mickey Loomis or GM Dell Demps. Injuries either knocked out or limited six Pelicans during the preseason, not including offseason signee Kendrick Perkins, who recently went down with a right pectoral injury that’s expected to cost him three months. The other injured Pelicans should be back by then, if they’re not already, but the spate of injuries nonetheless altered the composition of the team and has seemingly had much to do with a disappointing 1-7 start.

This was to be the season that New Orleans solidified itself as a postseason certainty for the present and years into the future. No longer were the Pelicans to sneak into the playoffs on the final night of the regular season, as they did this past spring. The continued improvement of Anthony Davis and the offensive bona fides of new coach Alvin Gentry were supposed to lift the team into the Western Conference elite, and though it’s early, it takes only a few losses to exceed the thin margin for error in the West. Still, the team is in a better spot than it was at the end of last season thanks largely to a move that eases the consequences of any shortcomings this year.

Davis is firmly entrenched as a Pelican in the wake of his new five-year extension, and the swiftness with which he agreed to sign it, in the first hour of his extension-eligibility window, speaks to his satisfaction with the direction of the franchise. Of course, the extension was the sensible financial play for the Wasserman Media Group client, since it’s a five-year max deal. Still, if Davis yearned to play elsewhere, the second jump in the salary cap, from a projected $89MM in 2016/17 to a $108MM projection for 2017/18, would have given Davis a chance to offset a significant portion of the financial sacrifice he’d undertake if he signed his qualifying offer next summer. Davis could also have pursued that strategy to stay in New Orleans but only on a series of two-year contracts with player options, a la LeBron James with the Cavs, a leverage play that Davis’ vast talent would probably have granted him if he wanted it.

Instead, he’s tied up for the long haul, and so too is Gentry, though the coach is just on a four-year deal with a team option on the final season. Gentry nonetheless seems well-positioned, given his role in Golden State’s 67-win championship team last season and the possibilities that abound with Davis and the team’s other offensive talents. The Pelicans reportedly interviewed Jeff Van Gundy, and Tom Thibodeau was frequently mentioned in connection to the job, though Demps was apparently in no mood to knock heads with such a hard-charging personality as the ex-Bulls coach. The Pelicans were instead reportedly looking for an exciting, up-tempo approach, and even before his tenure with the Warriors was over, Gentry got the New Orleans job.

The Pelicans clearly felt as though the switch from ousted former coach Monty Williams to Gentry, along with continued improvement from Davis, was the jolt the team needed to take the next step, since New Orleans made retaining the bulk of its roster a priority over the summer. The team’s only trade involved the divestment of second-round pick Branden Dawson in exchange for cash, and the Pelicans re-signed five out of their seven free agents. Chief among them was Omer Asik, whose presence allows Davis to play power forward. Asik has sharp limitations offensively, and while he has a strong reputation as a stout defender, he ranked only 38th among centers in ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus Minus metric. He’s nonetheless on a deal that’s fairly cheap for a starting-caliber center, with an average of little more than $10MM per season, only about $2MM more per year than top-flight backup Kosta Koufos will make on his deal with the Kings.

New Orleans also invested in Asik’s backup, Alexis Ajinca, further underscoring their commitment to using Davis at the four. A salary of about $5MM a year to a player who saw just 14.1 minutes per game last season, and only 10 minutes total in the playoffs, is a steep price. His playing time has declined in both of his full seasons in New Orleans since the Pelicans signed him in the middle of the 2012/13 season and gave him his first NBA action in nearly three years.

The Pelicans wound up with a relative bargain to back up at another position, as point guard Norris Cole signed his qualifying offer after lingering in restricted free agency until September. It wasn’t entirely surprising to see the Rich Paul client stay on the market so long, nor was it a shock that he took the qualifying offer, a tool that will allow him to reach to unrestricted free agency in 2016 and the rising salary cap that comes with it. The Sixers, Knicks and Lakers were reportedly interested suitors, but it appears no long-term proposals came about either from them or from the Pelicans that Cole deemed strong enough to dissuade him from going the short-term route. Comments from Gentry and Davis and the team’s lengthy deals with Asik, Ajinca and Dante Cunningham suggest the Pelicans would have preferred to sign him to a longer contract, though, as John Reid of The Times Picayune wrote, the team was only willing to go so far to re-sign him.

Cole’s decision to take the one-year qualifying offer may turn out to help the Pelicans more than they would have figured, as waiver claim Ish Smith has stepped in more than admirably while Cole is out with a high left ankle sprain. Smith is fourth in the league in assists per game so far, with 8.4, a continuance of his strong late-season performance with the Sixers last year. It’s early, and Smith is also on a one-year deal, but the Pelicans may well have picked a gem out of the dust they kicked up amid their many preseason moves.

Their fellow Western Conference heavies in Memphis have already swung a trade this season and appear to have quickly grown concerned about their poor start, but the Pelicans can afford to be patient. They have a 22-year-old superstar and a new coach with championship credentials. It probably won’t all come together for the Pelicans this year, but that’s OK after an offseason in which they bought some time.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post. The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of it.

What do you think of the offseason the Pelicans had? Leave a comment to tell us.

2015/16 Salary Cap: New Orleans Pelicans

November 12th, 2015 at 7:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The NBA’s salary cap for 2015/16 has been set at $70MM, which is an 11% increase from this past season, and the luxury tax line will be $84.74MM. The last cap projection from the league had been $67.1MM, and the projection for the tax line had been $81.6MM.

With the October 26th cutoff date to set regular season rosters now past, we at Hoops Rumors are in the process of running down the current salary cap commitments for each NBA franchise for the 2015/16 campaign. Here’s the cap breakdown for the New Orleans Pelicans, whose regular season roster can be viewed here:

2015/16 Salary Cap= $70,000,000
2015/16 Luxury Tax Line= $84,740,000
Fully Guaranteed Salary Commitments= $78,698,866*
Partially Guaranteed Salary Commitments= $50,000
Non-Guaranteed Salary Commitments= $2,062,134
Total Salary Cap Commitments= $80,811,000
Remaining Cap Room= -$10,811,000
Amount Below Luxury Tax Line= $3,377,089

*Note: This amount includes the $44,094 in salary paid to Nate Robinson, who was waived by the team.

Cap Exceptions Available:

Non-Taxpayer’s Mid-Level Exception= $768,907

Cash Available to Send Out In Trades= $3,400,000

Cash Available to Receive Via Trade= $3,400,000

Last Updated: 12/24/15 @7:30pm

The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.

Western Notes: Dragic, Rondo, Suns, Fredette

November 12th, 2015 at 2:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

Goran Dragic remarked around the time of his trade to Miami that he saw the Lakers as a “perfect fit,” but while the Lakers were initially likely to pursue him in free agency, they abandoned the idea when they became enamored with D’Angelo Russell and were optimistic about signing a big man, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Dragic, despite his comment about the Lakers, seemed likely to re-sign with Miami in the months prior to his free agency, and he re-upped with the Heat in July. See more from around the Western Conference:

An executive who spoke with Chris Mannix of SI.com raised a hypothetical scenario in which the Timberwolves trade Ricky Rubio in the offseason and sign Rajon Rondo, who’s on a one-year contract with the Kings. Kevin Garnett has a strong relationship with Rondo, his former Celtics teammate, and Garnett has a ton of pull with Minnesota, Mannix points out.
Trade acquisition Jon Leuer was supposed to be behind offseason signee Mirza Teletovic on the Suns depth chart, but instead Leuer is averaging more than twice as many minutes thanks in part to his strong shooting so far, observes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic in a piece that examines the Phoenix bench. Leuer and Teletovic are both poised to hit free agency next summer.
Jimmer Fredette‘s non-guaranteed deal with the Pelicans is for one year at the prorated minimum salary, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reveals (Twitter link).

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